METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING IMPROVED ACCESS TO DATA AND MEASUREMENTS IN A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20120102039A1
• Filed: 10/25/2010
• Published: 04/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: American Power Conversion Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Emerick, Gregory M., Gifford, Paul J., Harwood, Erica, Ogren, Richard M.
• Granted Patent: US 10,642,849 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/741
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2471 Distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems

Abstract

A method of managing device data related to a data center infrastructure includes generating, by a first server, a first portion of the device data in response to a change in a status of at least one of a plurality of data center infrastructure devices, storing, by a second server, the first portion of the device data in a database, generating, by the first server, a second portion of the device data in response to a request for data that is not contained in the database, the second portion of the device data being different than the first portion of the device data and being generated in a lightweight format, and displaying, in response to a user request, at least a portion of the device data using a user interface that is provided to the client computer by the second server.

Claims

1. A data center infrastructure management system, comprising:

a plurality of central servers configured to maintain device data related to management of a plurality of data center infrastructure devices located within one or more data centers;

a global server connected to the plurality of central servers through a first network, the global server configured to receive at least a subset of the device data asynchronously from each of the plurality of central servers, the global server further configured to store the at least the subset of the device data in a database, the global server further configured to generate and maintain an index of the subset of the device data, the index configured to facilitate searching of the subset of the device data in the database by the global server; and

a global client connected to the global server through a second network, the global client having a user interface configured to request and receive from the global server at least one of;

a portion of the subset of the device data; and

a portion of the device data;

wherein the portion of the subset of the device data is to be located in the database using the index by the global server in response to the request; and

wherein the portion of the device data is to be received from the plurality of central servers in response to a request by the global client for data that is not in the database.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the global client includes a thin client device that includes a terminal having at least the components necessary for receiving input from a user, displaying output to the user, and communicating with the global server.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the subset of the device data includes data center asset inventory data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the global server is further configured to request the device data from the plurality of central servers in response to the request from the global client for the device data, wherein the device data is not stored in the database, and wherein the global server is further configured to provide the device data to the global client in a lightweight format subsequent to receiving the device data from the plurality of central servers, the lightweight format of the device data being a format that is adapted for consumption by a thin client device that includes a terminal having at least the components necessary for receiving input from a user, displaying output to the user, and communicating with the global server.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the global client includes a data requestor component configured to request at least one of the portion of the subset of the device data and the portion of the device data, and further configured to display the at least one of the portion of the subset of the device data and the portion of the device data.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the index includes a table of ordered records including at least one of the data, an occurrence frequency of the data, a database table name, and identification information for locating the data in the database.

7. A data center infrastructure management system, comprising:

a plurality of central servers configured to maintain device data related to management of a plurality of data center infrastructure devices located within one or more data centers, each of the plurality of central servers having;

an asynchronous event component configured to automatically generate a first portion of the device data in response to a change in a status of at least one of the plurality of data center infrastructure devices; and

a first device data service component configured to service a request for a second portion of the device data, the second portion of the device data being different than the first portion of the device data; and

a global server connected to each of the plurality of central servers through a network, the global server having;

an asynchronous event handling component configured to receive the first portion of the device data from the one or more central servers;

a second device data service component configured to service a request for at least one of the first portion of the device data and the second portion of the device data;

a data access component configured to maintain a database containing at least the first portion of the device data; and

a data indexing component configured to generate and maintain an index of the first portion of the device data contained in the database, the index being configured to facilitate searching of the first portion of the device data.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a global client connected to the global server, the global client having a data requestor component configured to request at least one of the first portion of the device data and the second portion of the device data, and further having a user interface configured to display the at least one of the first portion of the device data and the second portion of the device data.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the global client includes a thin client device that includes a terminal having at least the components necessary for receiving input from a user, displaying output to the user, and communicating with the global server.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the global client includes a data requestor component configured to request at least one of the first portion of the device data and the second portion of the device data, and further configured to display the at least one of the first portion of the device data and the second portion of the device data.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the index includes a table of ordered records including at least one of the data, an occurrence frequency of the data, a database table name, and identification information for locating the data in the database.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the first portion of the device data includes a status of at least one of a data center server, a data center device, and a data center device group.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the status includes at least one of sensor data, log data, and alarm data.

14. A method of managing device data related to a data center infrastructure, the method comprising:

generating, by a first server, a first portion of the device data in response to a change in a status of at least one of a plurality of data center infrastructure devices;

storing, by a second server, the first portion of the device data in a database;

generating an index, by the second server, of the first portion of the device data, the index configured to facilitate searching of the first portion of the device data by the second server;

generating, by the first server, a second portion of the device data in response to a request for data that is not contained in the database, the second portion of the device data being different than the first portion of the device data and being generated in a lightweight format, the lightweight format being adapted for consumption by a thin client device; and

displaying, in response to a user request, at least a portion of the first portion of the device data using a user interface that is provided to a client computer by the second server.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising searching, responsive to receiving a search request from a user, the first portion of the device data using the index to find data satisfying the search request.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the thin client device includes a terminal having at least the components necessary for receiving input from a user, displaying output to the user, and communicating with at least one of the first server and the second server.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising automatically polling, by the second server, the first server to retrieve an update to the first portion of the device data.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising asynchronously transmitting to the second server, by the first server, an update to the first portion of the device data.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating a list of suggested search terms based on the first portion of the device data and on a user-supplied search query, the list of suggested search terms including one or more terms derived from the first portion of the device data.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the user interface is configured to display the list of suggested search terms to a user in response to receiving the user-supplied search query, and wherein the user interface is further configured to enable the user to select one search term from the list of suggested search terms.